Dispatch Jen Garrido

Michael and Lara Roller with Lovey Dovey by Jen Garrido: the Rollers have become regulars at the monthly Gallery Hop. "Its not that were looking to buy every month, but we go to see whats out there," she said. She works as a retail environmental designer for Fitch; and her husband, as a freelance designer. In the past year and a half, they have bought four paintings  including a series of three by Iowa artist Robert Atwell. "Probably the hardest thing for us to agree on is the art," she said. "We have similar tastes, but its funny: There are things we dont necessarily see eye to eye on."
"Were still pretty young and just starting out," she said. "A thousand dollars would be the limit if we really, really loved something."
Her husband explained the appeal of collecting: "Were both creators of things. So when you have someone elses creation on your wall, you can appreciate all the effort that went into it. I like to speculate, wonder: How did this come to be? "